Ellis Enters “Quantico”

Fresh off the success of the BET mini-series, The Book of Negroes, Aunjanue Ellis is also taking the leap to prime-time television. The actress has been cast in ABC’s drama-thriller, Quantico.

Quantico centers on a group of young FBI recruits, who battle their way through training at the Quantico base in Virginia. As the show intercuts between their hidden pasts and their present training, it also flashes forward to the near future, where one of the recruits will turn out to be a sleeper terrorist responsible for the most devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Ellis will star in the series, playing a character named Miranda, who is described as “an extremely professional and tough woman who is the director of Quantico and oversees the training of a new group of recruits. Honest to the point of being harsh at times, Miranda never allows her emotions to cloud her judgment, and is able to make difficult decisions — despite dealing with pressures at home. The character has fought hard to become the highest-ranking woman in the FBI, but there’s only so far she’s been able to go and that fuels her to push even further.”

Ellis joins a cast that also includes Tate Ellington and Graham Rogers. Marc Munden will direct the pilot.

The 46-year old San Francisco native is best known for her roles in films such as Men of Honor, The Caveman’s Valentine, Undercover Brother, Ray, The Taking of Pelham 123 and The Help.

On television, Ellis has had recurring roles on The Practice, True Blood, and The Mentalist, and played roles in a number of made for television movies, such as Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story and earned a Black Reel Award nomination for the film, Abducted: The Carlina White Story. Earlier this year, Ellis starred in the critically acclaimed miniseries The Book of Negroes.

As we wrote last week, Ellis will be joining a field that has been dominated by strong Black female characters over the past several years. She joins network mates, Kerry Washington, Chandra Wilson, Viola Davis and Tracee Ellis Ross on ABC.